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Fluctuations in Arctic sea ice

The extent of the Arctic sea ice is extremely variable. Danish researches have come to this conclusion.

Measuring the extent of sea ice is almost impossible. It constantly breaks off the ice caps in the Arctic and then melts after drifting in the ocean.

The Danish researchers say this is the first time that an idea of past sea ice levels has been extracted from the region.

“Our key to the mystery of the extent of sea ice during earlier epochs lies in the driftwood we found along the coast,” Svend Funder, one of the researchers said to PlanetSave and added: “Our studies show that there have been large fluctuations in the amount of summer sea ice during the last 10,000 years."

8-5000 years ago the temperature was considerably warmer then today. That mens the sea ice was significantly less at the time then now. That means a direct connection between the temperature and amounts of sea ice, Funder says.